THE CONCEPT OF A JUST WAR IN RUSSIAN SOCIO-POLITICAL DISCOURSE (1914–1916)

Abstract

The article analyzes the representations of the Russian socio-political discourse of 1914–1916, dedicated to the justification of the First World War as a just war on the part of Russia and its Allies. It considers the role of the factors that shaped the image of a just war in the minds of the European political and intellectual elite and the younger generation, as well as the emergence of the idea of “spirituality” of war as the basis for its legitimation. The author stresses the influence of the international conventions on the laws and customs of war on the image of a just war in Russia as well as the specifics of the socio-cultural situation at the turn of the 20th century, which made it difficult to conduct ideological and psychological preparation for world clash that could affect the mass consciousness. The image of a just war began to take shape in Russia after the country entered the conflict and was based on the idea of a defensive war against an external aggressor. The fact that Germany was the first to declare war on Russia, the realities of bloody confrontation contributed to the formation and broadcast the ideas about the “Second Patriotic War”. The concept of the “Second Patriotic War”, which appealed to historical memory, became the embodiment of the idea of a just war in the 1914–1915 Russian socio-political discourse. An important component of the image of a just war in Russia was the notions of the spiritual and religious sense of confrontation. They were embodied in ideas about the implementation of the sacred mission of liberating Europe and the world from “Germanism”, the protection of the Slavs, the “struggle for truth”, the affirmation of the renewed ideal of “Holy Russia”. The ideas of a “holy war against Germanism” got embedded in the discourse of the press into the system of ideas about the fairness of the goals and objectives of the Allies. Another basis for the legitimacy of war was the concept embodied in the slogan “the war to end all wars”. The influential concept of Entente propaganda received a wide response in the Russian liberal and democratic press, which interpreted the meaning of the world conflict in a political and legal terms. The war was seen as a way to establish a new system of international relations based on the rule of the “force of law” as opposed to the “law of force” personified by Germany. Illusions about the possibility of establishing “eternal peace” after the war were widely broadcast in the press, becoming an element of ideas about a just struggle for a better future of mankind. The notions about “German atrocities” widely broadcast by propaganda in the Entente countries were important element of the justification of violence against the enemy and legitimization of the war. In Russia, despite the enemy’s violation of international conventions governing conducting the war and the presence of this topic in the press, the image of “German atrocities” did not play the significant role in socio-political discourse in comparison with the Entente countries.